peeks into my life dealing with everyday life and obstacles as well as obstacles of dealing with disabilities and accessibility obstacles, Chronic Pain due to broken spinal rods, living on pain medications, dealing with anxiety/depression, experiencing the newness of love, and fighting for my right to live and love my life in an ableist society.
Yesterday, Wed March 18, 2020, while I was using the “dog shaver” to see about Beignet’s loose dog hair, she was more hyper than usual and wouldn’t keep still. Long story short, she moved while I was going down her back with it, and when she moved, I slipped and got the back of one of her legs- a small cut on her leg and bleeding a little. We went inside, I got bacitracin, gauze, bandaid, and medical tape and bandaged her up. I walked away to put the stuff away and come back to find she had already chewed halfway through the tape, gauze, and bandaid.
Later that night, I decided to practice my photography skills and used Beignet as my model and uploaded them to her Instagram to try to build up her following and add to her content. I am trying to get her some brand deals; I am almost like those moms who push their kids into casting calls. ugh. Not good, but I can’t help it, she is just so cute and a pretty dog and so photogenic.
Today, Beignet was itching and scratching alot so I decided to take her outside and give her a good brush/comb out. I also found one of those dog hair shaver things that she used to be scared of when she was a puppy; good news, she is no longer scared of it, and it got alot of her loose hair off. She’d probably look alot prettier if she had a bath, maybe David and I will bathe her this weekend. I think I will keep up with her daily grooming though, it seems to be helping her alot.
After an hour or two of grooming outside, we came back in and decided to play. She has so many toys that sometimes it is so hard for her to decide what toy she definitely wants and will start with one, then leave it alone after i throw it, to go find a different toy! HAHA.
Anyway, it was a pretty chill day, and I guess with the hysteria and panic surrounding CoronaVirus, I will have alot of time to just be at home and spend time with my wonderful furbaby.
Today we did some more training with the retrieval of the coke bottle, basic commands, and started “clean up” for her toys so I don’t have to bend down to pick them up.
Originally I had been training Beignet to be a service dog and eventually with all my pain from broken rods and then surgery recovery, It kind of fell by the way-side, however, I am getting back into it. Today We started training to try to get her to retrieve coke plastic bottle for me (in case I dropped it or something).
Ever since adopting Beignet, she has always had a distinct feature: her crooked little tail.
At first, seeing it broke my heart, because it’s like “aww she has a disability too!” and I also thought maybe she got it caught in something/ it got infected and had to be removed/ or some heartless monster just decided to cut her tail, but I actually later found out (once I joined some dog groups- especially rescue dogs and foxhounds- which most people think Beignet is) that there is a gene mutation that can cause “Natural bobtail”- an animal’s tail which due to a mutated gene grows unusually short or is missing completely. Finding that out, made me come to appreciate her little special tail so much now.
One thing she does that is so cute and adorable is that when she tries to wag that little nub, her hips wiggle too, and hence why I sometimes call her “wiggle butt,” or “wiggles mcwiggleton.”
She also has the most cutest and adorable sleeping positions!
and Lastly, today, I was in a foxhound group on facebook- asking about if all foxhounds “shed like there is no tomorrow” because Beignet sheds so much that I swifter once a day and by the end of the week, I swear I have enough dog hairs to make a small sweater! it is ridiculous how much she sheds but she also has really bad skin allergies and itching. Poor thing, I have her on a daily antihistamine, special poultry free dog food because we have a suspicion she is allergic to chicken, fish oil on her dog food and just currently started doing coconut oils as well, I brush/comb her once a day(sometimes more if she is really itchy), and we bathe her every 2 weeks (sometimes earlier if again, she is really itchy); and the poor girl still scratches and licks herself, has welts under her fur, has dandruff flakes, and sheds a lot. Anyway, in the group, I asked about shedding badly, and the following screenshot has to be the funniest and best reply ever!
apparently she isn’t shedding dog hair at all, she is losing her powdered sugar! LMAO.
My fiance and I had made plans to originally go to another parade this weekend, however upon waking up, my body decided to ruin that: sinus allergies, major migraines, back pain, and spasms; However, I found a way to not let it keep me down.
Sure, we didn’t go to the parade, but instead of moping and letting it ruin my day, I found a fun way to entertain myself; and all I needed was some mardi gras beads and my dog.
“How can that possibly be more fun than going out and socializing at a parade?” Well, as much fun as a parade is with the socializing and being with people, I wouldn’t have really enjoyed it because I was feeling so miserable with my health; but here at home in the warmth, I can have my own parade. Just me and my dog, who probably thought her mom had completely lost her mind. haha!
I took some beads and put on my pandora music and started dancing (yes I was hurting, but just swaying side to side and side-stepping, isn’t much to hurt), and took some beads and started throwing them around- once they landed on the floor, Beignet, would go over and sniff at them.
After throwing a few beads, I then took some and put them on Beignet like she had caught them. However, I think her favorite was when I brought out a light-up rubber boomerang I had gotten at the Rio Parade last weekend; In Hinds sight, I should’ve known she would love this item because she LOVES her frisbees! As soon as I pulled out the boomerang, that little nub of her crooked tail started wagging and her butt then began its “wiggle”. I tossed it to the couch a few times, but I didn’t wanna risk breaking stuff in the house, so we went into the backyard for a couple of tosses until I got too cold and was like “Okay B, Time to go in. We can play with the boomerang more tomorrow when the sun is out and hopefully warmer.”
As soon as we came in, I put the boomerang out of reach so that she wouldn’t destroy it (Power Chewer problems Lol) and she just sat near where I had put it out of reach and whined and whined until she realized I was not gonna relent and she went lay down and is now fast asleep.
Sure, I could’ve had some fun at the parade maybe, but I had a lot of fun here- just me, my fiance (who after helping me do some housework and he did yard work, is now enjoying his free time playing his video games), the cats outside in their warm (lighted) cat box/makeshift house, and Beignet- whose “mom” uses her for her own entertainment-but she knows I love her. ❤
Anyway, hope everyone else has a great rest of their weekend and remember: Don’t let life keep you down. Find a little fun in anything at all, smile, and that can turn everything around!
I did a Facebook live at 4 this morning, having not had much sleep due to massive pain and spasms from the cold, wet weather here in Louisiana.
It is very random and silly, I was sleep-deprived (I did have a few hours, not many), on pain meds and melatonin that had the opposite result of what they normally do- normally knock me on my ass and make me sleep but no luck this time.
It is rather hard to sleep through what feels like every muscle in your back/spine tightening, twisting, pinching, jumping, and twitching. It feels very weird and can also make the nerves in your insides itch a lot!
For those of you who may not be aware, I adopted a rescued dog from Acadiana Animal Aid. The papers claimed she was “beagle mix,” but people in public suggested “German shepherd, American Foxhound, a bit of Rottweiler, Tree Walking Coon,” as well as others have said she does look somewhat like a beagle. She was originally from St John the Baptist Parish Animal shelter, (an employee there gave her the name “Beignet,” and being from Louisiana and how sweet her personality is, I kept it because it fits her well.) However, when Louisiana went through that bad flood back in Aug. 2016, she was one of the rescues that were brought to Lafayette area by a no-kill shelter; Acadiana Animal Aid in Carencro. I adopted her on August 25th, 2016 ( a few mere months – May 1, 2016, after losing my last dog- a beagle Mya-Bella, 4 days before my birthday- she got out and hit on the road and I was devastated.) I had told my parents that I wanted a new dog as a Christmas present, but when I saw Beignet on the shelter website, I instantly fell in love. Fast-forward 4 years later and I still love her as if I have just gotten her. She is one of, if not the best, best dogs I ever owned. She has so much personality and makes me laugh. She loves to play(something my last dog didn’t do); she isn’t much of a snuggler except when it’s nasty outside- cold, wet/rainy, or if I am not feeling well- (its almost as if she has a sixth sense and can sense when I am hurting with my disabilities pains). She follows me everywhere like my shadow. She loves to go everywhere with me like my little sidekick. She is loyal and protective; Whenever I am roughhousing or play fighting with my family or my fiance- she will bark at them and sometimes she will get between us, trying to block them from me,) Whereas she barks nonstop at people walking in our yard/mail people or if we are in public and people are walking near our vehicle: On occasion when walking her in public places, she will growl at strangers protectively and I have to correct her, it is okay to be protective but she cannot be aggressive if she will be with me in public- as I am trying to get her trained to by my service dog.
Tonight, it is a brutally cold, wet night, and she must sense it because she climbed up next to the couch with me and had her head on my lap: as usual, I start scratching her behind her ears, but this time she sits up and leaned her head into my arm as I scratch her ears, and then leans her head against my shoulder/down onto my chest area. it was the most cutest thing ever!!! I love her so much and she makes me so happy. when I am depressed or sad, nothing can perk me up more than just snuggling my best fur friend or playing a nice game of fetch with her.
Her name fits her well, she is as sweet as a Louisiana beignet with tons of powdered sugar. ❤
Jamie's Twisted Journey 